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Bombardier's Founding
Bombardier was created and incorporated as “Bombardier Snow Cars Limited”. It was first intended as a snowmobile company after Joseph Bombardier lost his 2 year old son to illness because of a snowstorm limiting transportation speed in 1934. His first product was called the "B7" snow coach which could carry up to 7 passengers. It garnered initial success and Joseph was able to sell a dozen or two of these vehicles. The next was the "B12" which was a bigger vehicle which could hold 12 people. -
The First Challenge
In 1948, the Quebec government passed a law that made snow removal of roads mandatory. This one act cut Bombardier's sales by a half; this was a huge blow to the company. Joseph Bombardier responded by doing some product development, which resulted in a new snow plow that the company used to take advantage of the new law. In addition to that, he decided to diversify the business into the mining, forestry, and petroleum industries with a modified B12 that he re-purposed to haul large loads. -
A New Market is Born
In 1957, Joseph came upon a breakthrough: he was able to make a one piece rubber track that replaced the older metal ones, though this could only be used for lightweight vehicles. In 1959, through continuous product development, the famous Ski-Doo was launched. This new personal snowmobile could hold only 1 or 2 people, but what spun off of it was an entire market. Unintentionally, Bombardier had invented the sport of snowmobiling and used the new market to sell his new Ski-Doos -
Entry into the Railway Business
As its first acquisition outside of Canada, Bombardier buys Lohnerwerke in Vienna, Austria, a manufacturer of motor scooters and trams, and its subsidiary, the engine manufacturer ROTAX. This marks Bombardier’s entry into the railway business. This acquisition further diversified the company and created a completely new product line, gaining the company an even bigger portfolio. -
New Rail Technologies
After its initial entry into the rail industry in 1970, the company purchases a majority stake in MLW Worthington Ltd., a locomotive manufacturer in Montreal. This new purchase gains Bombardier huge control over MLW Worthington and allows the new acquisition of Light Rapid Comfortable technology that the company adds to its toolbelt of transit equipment. This technology can still be seen today with the VIA rail system that is still in operation across Canada. -
Bombardier Takes to the Skies
In 1986, Bombardier purchases Canadair, the leading manufacturer of Challenger wide body business jets and the CL-215 amphibious firefighting aircraft. This new purchase launches the company into the Canadian aviation industry with state of the art products. Not too long after that, the green light was given for Bombardier to begin developing the CL-215T, a turboprop version of the newly acquired products. -
Expansion into New Markets
Bombardier acquires Waggonfabrik Talbot GmbH & Co., a rail transportation equipment manufacturer in Germany. This acquisition expands the company's foothold in Europe, the world's biggest rail market. Bombardier is now able to sell more and more of its current products in newer markets as it expands even more into the European area. This decision marks a leap in the revenues of the company. -
The Wind Down of Bombardier Capital
Since 1972, Bombardier offered financial services to customers such as lending or leasing; this was done by its subsidiary, Bombardier Capital. However, that business had lost $663 million in company value due to a failed expansion. Finally, in 2001, the company decided to downsize its operations in Bombardier Capital, with the lay off of over 200 employees. In 2005, it divested in its Inventory Finance Division and sold it to GE Commercial Finance for about $825 million to pay off debts. -
Restructuring of the Senior Management
In 1996, the aerospace, rail transportation, recreational products, international markets and financial services divisions of Bombardier each got their own President and COO. Since the turn of the century, the company faced financial trouble due to mismanagement and competition. After Pierre Beaudoin succeeds his father as President and CEO, Guy Hachey is appointed the head of Bombardier Aerospace. The Office of the President is dissolved to eliminate the unneeded job vacancy. -
The Massive Debt
Just this past year, Bombardier reported $9 billion US worth of debt on its books, against annual revenues of just over $15 billion.
The company posted an annual loss of $1.6 billion for the fiscal year as well. With a $591 million US purchase by Airbus for a 75% stake in its Commercial Aviation business, the company is divesting in order to pay off this massive debt.
